as we stand on the edge of the fiscal cliff right now, any chance that we do not go over? guest: that is pretty small. we are relying on the senate to avoid this -- to avoid a filibuster. then we are relying on the house who for the last several weeks could not take the lead. it is important to state that while the official deadline is december 31. they can continue to work until the new congress on january 3. we have more like three days for them to get something together. host: are we going over the cliff? what does it mean if we do? guest: in some sense, we're going over the cliff even if they reach a deal. when you look at the deal they have been talking about, there will still be a lot left for future decision making. even if they are able to extend tax cuts for the middle class and do not do much of anything else, you still have the haphazard dealmaking not touching any of the issues the parties said they were concerned about leading into the fiscal cliff. the payroll tax cut is going to expire. no one is talking about extending that. that is the one that gives the b